Erica Lee Carter, daughter of the late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, announced Monday that she will run in a special election to fill the U.S. House seat once held by her mother to finish out the remainder of the late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee’s term.
This is what Texas Democratic Rep. Jackson Lee said last month: Pancreatic cancerShe represented Texas’ 18th congressional district for 30 years.
“I want to finish the race for my mom!” Lee Carter said in a statement.
“It’s been nearly two weeks since we lost my beloved mother, the late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, and I am humbled by the gratitude from the entire Houston community for the outpouring of love, support and gratitude shown to our entire family,” Lee Carter wrote. “I witnessed my mother’s incredible dedication to public service and legislative ability firsthand, but the countless stories and moments I’ve heard since her passing make her ‘larger than life’ presence even more apparent.”
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee dies after battle with pancreatic cancer
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) died last month at age 74 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. (Reuters/Erin Scott)
“The people of the 18th Congressional District re-elected my mother to the 118th Congress to protect their interests and uphold our democratic values,” she continued. “Congressman Jackson Lee had their interests at heart until the end. Since then, I have been urged by many community leaders and Democratic allies to run in the Nov. 5 special election to serve out my term this year. After careful consideration, the answer is yes.”
Jackson Lee too Previously battling breast cancerHe was diagnosed with cancer in 2011, but announced he had been cured the following year.
Jackson Lee served as a judge before joining Congress and was elected to the Houston City Council in 1989.
Kamala Harris attends funeral for Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee in Texas
Last year, Jackson Lee ran for mayor of Houston in a landslide defeat to then-state Sen. John Whitmire, a Democrat, after which she announced she would seek reelection to Congress.
“My mother was the ultimate finisher,” Lee Carter writes. “She would stay late into the night in her congressional office in Washington, assist with community events late into the night, make phone calls into the early hours of the morning doing ‘national business,’ and close every important meeting with questions, solutions and next steps, never accepting ‘no’ as a final answer.”
Lee Carter said she cared for her mother until her death.
The winner of the special election on Nov. 5 will fill the seat for the remainder of the current term, which ends on Jan. 3.
Sheila Jackson Lee attends the UNCF A Mind Is…Gala at Hilton Americas Houston on November 18, 2023 in Houston, Texas. (Marcus Ingram/Getty Images)
Click here to get the FOX News app
Another election will be held in conjunction with the general election on Nov. 5 for the next congressional seat that runs from Jan. 3, 2025 to Jan. 3, 2027. Harris County Democratic Party precinct chairs will meet Tuesday to nominate a candidate to challenge Republican Lana Sentonze in a district considered safe for Democrats.
Lee Carter said that if the people of Texas’ 18th congressional district were to give her their vote, she would “constitute the 118th Congress.” [Jackson Lee] We could do that by supporting justice, equality, health care, human rights and economic opportunity for all.”
“I call on all Harris County Democrats to come together to help the residents of the 118th Congressional District regain their right to vote on important national issues,” said Lee Carter. “Together, we will fight to the end for my mother, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee.”
